Aa
newly diagnosed???
i am newly diagnosed with FMs and my first pain mg mt app is in 3 days I'm not sure what to ask or what to expect I'm 21 years old and have never had to deal with something like this, what questions do i need to ask what should i take i haven't gotten any paperwork for it , any help would be greatly appreciated
I was just diagnosed with fibromyalgia 2 weeks ago, lyrica seems to help but twice ive gotten terrible pains in the same spot on my back that's excruciating. So I take a narcotic with it ,which I was finally.getting g away from. I have an appt with a rheumatologist in ''weeks. What can he do different? This pain has taken over my life for years lyrica ha helped far more than anything else! But breakthrough pain seems even worse.
With my pain dr they sent paperwork out to me, and I filled it out before i went for my appt. While I was waiting some lady came in and she didn't have her paperwork filled out so they canceled her appt so she could fill out the paper work before she came. If I was you I would call to make sure you can fill it out there and to make sure it wasn't sent to you.
Sorry you are going thru so much pain and I hope the pain dr will be able to help you. Mellie and karen gave you some good ideas, better then I would of since I don't know much about FM.
Hang in there
Jamie
Sorry you are going thru so much pain and I hope the pain dr will be able to help you. Mellie and karen gave you some good ideas, better then I would of since I don't know much about FM.
Hang in there
Jamie
Designgyrl made some great points. Getting a second opinion is always a good idea. My primary care doctor diagnosed me after ruling out a lot of other things through blood work and also an MRI of the brain. Fibro can mimic a lot of other things and it is a rule out diagnosis so getting a second opinion is a good idea.
Some orthopedic doctors also treat fibro. That's who I saw initially. In my personal experience, though, an orthopedic doctor is not the best option. I have a friend who's a NP and she works in rheumatology and sees a lot of fibro patients. I'm glad you got a diagnosis. I got mine very quickly. I have an excellent PCP but a lot of people go years before being diagnosed. Some doctors don't believe fibro is a real disease. (Though it's recognized by the CDC I'm pretty sure and those of us who have it know it's very real.)
At the time of my diagnosis, there were a lot of theories on why someone would get fibro. (I'm not sure if that's still the case.) One theory was that it could come from several things, a sleep disorder, a trauma (car accident, fall, etc.,) viral and/or unknown. For me, the sleep disorder fit. I was diagnosed after my last baby was born (he's 11 now.) For the first year he had extreme colic and didn't sleep more than 20 minutes at a time. (He got better when he started walking for some reason.) As a result, though, I didn't sleep. My initial flare-up was bad enough that I went to the doctor within a few weeks of symptoms.
There's a lot of information on fibro on the web, lots of books, and lots of treatment options (according to these sources.) Your best bet is to find a doctor that you feel comfortable with and can develop a strong relationship with. As for the other stuff, if it's not harmful and makes sense and you want to try it, give it a shot. (There are some very extreme plans you can come across. I remember one that said if you stayed away from a certain ingredient that was used in a ton of foods, cosmetics, etc., you'd be cured. There isn't a cure.) As you go along, you'll find out what works best for you to help you feel better.
Getting good sleep and nutrition is really important (like with most illnesses.) And so is exercise, though it's probably the last thing you want to do. And you need to learn to pace yourself. Sometimes when I stress myself too much, I'll wind up in a flare-up. I take a sleep aid if my sleep gets thrown off for more than a week or so. And for me, swimming is a great exercise. It just makes everything feel better. Walking and the elliptical machine work well for me, too. I also do light weights. Some people like yoga or Pilates. You'll learn as you go what works best for you.
I've found the ThermaCare heating patches help a lot. You can get them for different parts of your body and you can wear them under your clothes without noticing them. The heat from them lasts up to 8 or 12 hours. They can get a bit expensive but Costoco carries them for less and sometimes there are coupons in the paper for them. I've just found heat always works best for me, though I know some people like ice.
My pain management doctor does not treat my fibromyalgia. But some of the medications I'm on for the RSD and arthritis and joint pain help my fibromyalgia. After having it for so long, I have learned to mostly manage it.
I hope you'll take advantage of what this forum has to offer and also share your experiences here. It's a great place to get information and to vent. I don't know about anyone else, but for me, one of the hardest things about having fibromyalgia was that people don't get it. It's hard for them to understand an illness where you look fine.
Fibro isn't a life-threatening disease, but it can be a life-changing one. But you will find how to manage it. Since my diagnosis I've done all the Orlando theme parks with my kids and sometimes one or two of their friends about five times. I've learned to pace myself and I've learned to say no sometimes.
I really hope you'll let us know how your appointment goes.
Some orthopedic doctors also treat fibro. That's who I saw initially. In my personal experience, though, an orthopedic doctor is not the best option. I have a friend who's a NP and she works in rheumatology and sees a lot of fibro patients. I'm glad you got a diagnosis. I got mine very quickly. I have an excellent PCP but a lot of people go years before being diagnosed. Some doctors don't believe fibro is a real disease. (Though it's recognized by the CDC I'm pretty sure and those of us who have it know it's very real.)
At the time of my diagnosis, there were a lot of theories on why someone would get fibro. (I'm not sure if that's still the case.) One theory was that it could come from several things, a sleep disorder, a trauma (car accident, fall, etc.,) viral and/or unknown. For me, the sleep disorder fit. I was diagnosed after my last baby was born (he's 11 now.) For the first year he had extreme colic and didn't sleep more than 20 minutes at a time. (He got better when he started walking for some reason.) As a result, though, I didn't sleep. My initial flare-up was bad enough that I went to the doctor within a few weeks of symptoms.
There's a lot of information on fibro on the web, lots of books, and lots of treatment options (according to these sources.) Your best bet is to find a doctor that you feel comfortable with and can develop a strong relationship with. As for the other stuff, if it's not harmful and makes sense and you want to try it, give it a shot. (There are some very extreme plans you can come across. I remember one that said if you stayed away from a certain ingredient that was used in a ton of foods, cosmetics, etc., you'd be cured. There isn't a cure.) As you go along, you'll find out what works best for you to help you feel better.
Getting good sleep and nutrition is really important (like with most illnesses.) And so is exercise, though it's probably the last thing you want to do. And you need to learn to pace yourself. Sometimes when I stress myself too much, I'll wind up in a flare-up. I take a sleep aid if my sleep gets thrown off for more than a week or so. And for me, swimming is a great exercise. It just makes everything feel better. Walking and the elliptical machine work well for me, too. I also do light weights. Some people like yoga or Pilates. You'll learn as you go what works best for you.
I've found the ThermaCare heating patches help a lot. You can get them for different parts of your body and you can wear them under your clothes without noticing them. The heat from them lasts up to 8 or 12 hours. They can get a bit expensive but Costoco carries them for less and sometimes there are coupons in the paper for them. I've just found heat always works best for me, though I know some people like ice.
My pain management doctor does not treat my fibromyalgia. But some of the medications I'm on for the RSD and arthritis and joint pain help my fibromyalgia. After having it for so long, I have learned to mostly manage it.
I hope you'll take advantage of what this forum has to offer and also share your experiences here. It's a great place to get information and to vent. I don't know about anyone else, but for me, one of the hardest things about having fibromyalgia was that people don't get it. It's hard for them to understand an illness where you look fine.
Fibro isn't a life-threatening disease, but it can be a life-changing one. But you will find how to manage it. Since my diagnosis I've done all the Orlando theme parks with my kids and sometimes one or two of their friends about five times. I've learned to pace myself and I've learned to say no sometimes.
I really hope you'll let us know how your appointment goes.
I too like Mellie have fibromyalgia and only have occasional flair ups, I have a pain management doctor who does not treat my fibromyalgia but have a rheumatologist that does. You may want to also look into a rheumatologist if you haven't, because they know a lot about it as they also treat it; some medications I know they use is lyrica ( I'm not sure if this is an antidepressent but it is made for fibromyalgia, tramadol which is a great pain releaver , sevella which is some sort of pain releaver, anti inflammatories which all hurt my stomach, flexeril which is a muscle relaxer that helps you sleep, just to name a few medications the rheumatologists use and maybe the pain doctors too. I know that the pain management doctor may go a different ways and may prescribe narcotics, but I would urge you also to go at least to 1 rheumatology appointment because they check for inflammation stuff and you may have other unknown conditions and since your so young it would be good for you to get checked out for any type of rheumatoid issue just to rule out everything, the first rheumatologist I had ran a huge panel that include liver, pancreas, and seven tubes of blood that took three weeks to come back.
By the way I forgot to say welcome to the forum, whatever you plan on doing we will be here to support you and help you anyway we can. Just keep talking, posting and letting us know what's going on and we will let you know about our experiences. Regarding questions, the doctor is going to really ask you a lot of questions, he is going to feel your legs, feet, shoulders, for trigger points, basically he's looking for I think (ten) points that hurt when he touches you and basically if it hurts then that's how they catagorize you with fibromyalgia. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, just antidepressants, anti inflammatories, and maybe the pain doctor decides something differen't I don't know because I don't have it flare up but a couple of times a year, thank goodness, but it is very painful, and your so young.
I would like to ask you a question? Is there a reason you chose pain doctor instead of rheumatologist? If you can tell, I'm kinda trying to urge you to see a rheumatologist also, because you could have rheumatoid arthritis and a ton of other things that they test for that the pain doctors don't. My pain doctor works on my fractured neck and I get epidural injections, three times a year. Typically fibro patients don't like to be touched much because it hurts but every once in a while my friend that has fibromyalgia (bad case and she sees a rheumy) will go get a body massage. Try to soak your body in a warm tub and heating pad that will help those aching body parts. I'm very glad you joined here , and hope to hear all about your appointment. Don't be scared, both my pain management doctor and my rheumatologist are WONDERFUL. My rheumatologist just moved his office over a hour away and I'm going to drive just to continue to see him. Anyway, I hope I didn't offend you, I'm just really curious about your appointment and hope you will consider seeing a rheumtologist too, to check out and make sure you don't have rheumatoid arthritis and also a lot of other immune system disorders that can go with fibromyalgia.
I promise you that at the pm office you'll fill out paperwork, give your insurance information, they will weigh you, take your temp, just like a regular office, my pm office actually took a few xray's. At the rheumy office they took blood. But never at the pain management office. You'll read in this forum that a lot of people on here have pain contracts they have to sign and be perfect on, which means you can't take more or less of the medication you are given, otherwise the doctor will kick them out. But like me you may not have a doctor that doesn't, my doctor doesn't do the urine testing, pain contracts or pill counting, and I don't think Mellie's does either, but a lot of people on here do have that. I see my pain doc once a month, I was on tramadol for my pain, but then I had a weird reaction so I had to stop and went back on the vicodin today. What I take for my rheumatoid is not narcotics, it's flexeril. I was taking tramadol before I got on the lexapro, and it was working for the rheumy pain, actually pretty good. So, I guess I can tell you a lot about pain doctor and rheumatoid doctors. I hope I haven't scared you, my intention is to give you options, you're so young but in one way it's good to see what your issues are and start getting them taken care of before the pain gets unbareable. Are you having trouble sleeping, are your hands hurting? I noticed that was happening a lot to me and then he put me on the flexeril which is a muscle relaxer that makes you sleep and it worked great.
I hope you have a terrific experience, try not to be afraid of the pain doctor, they are very highly skilled, intelligent, doctors (most of them) sometimes you'll hear about a few bad ones, but I'm so thankful for both my doctors that I hope you end up having a good relationship with them. Please continue to write on the forum, and join us and we'll try to help you anyway we can. I'm glad you came on to ask this question. I'm sorry it's so long, but I thought inform you of what I know about the diseases and it will give you a few ideas. Do you have any other chronic pain than fibromyalgia? How long has the pain been happening? Is this something that just happened or have you been living with it for a long time? Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my post, you are very important to us, we are like a big happy family here. Hope you have a pain free night tonight. Only two more days until your appointment, please be excited about the possibility of finding a treatment that will work for you instead of scared. I promise the doctor will not hurt you.
Take care and please let us know how it turned out!
Karen
By the way I forgot to say welcome to the forum, whatever you plan on doing we will be here to support you and help you anyway we can. Just keep talking, posting and letting us know what's going on and we will let you know about our experiences. Regarding questions, the doctor is going to really ask you a lot of questions, he is going to feel your legs, feet, shoulders, for trigger points, basically he's looking for I think (ten) points that hurt when he touches you and basically if it hurts then that's how they catagorize you with fibromyalgia. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, just antidepressants, anti inflammatories, and maybe the pain doctor decides something differen't I don't know because I don't have it flare up but a couple of times a year, thank goodness, but it is very painful, and your so young.
I would like to ask you a question? Is there a reason you chose pain doctor instead of rheumatologist? If you can tell, I'm kinda trying to urge you to see a rheumatologist also, because you could have rheumatoid arthritis and a ton of other things that they test for that the pain doctors don't. My pain doctor works on my fractured neck and I get epidural injections, three times a year. Typically fibro patients don't like to be touched much because it hurts but every once in a while my friend that has fibromyalgia (bad case and she sees a rheumy) will go get a body massage. Try to soak your body in a warm tub and heating pad that will help those aching body parts. I'm very glad you joined here , and hope to hear all about your appointment. Don't be scared, both my pain management doctor and my rheumatologist are WONDERFUL. My rheumatologist just moved his office over a hour away and I'm going to drive just to continue to see him. Anyway, I hope I didn't offend you, I'm just really curious about your appointment and hope you will consider seeing a rheumtologist too, to check out and make sure you don't have rheumatoid arthritis and also a lot of other immune system disorders that can go with fibromyalgia.
I promise you that at the pm office you'll fill out paperwork, give your insurance information, they will weigh you, take your temp, just like a regular office, my pm office actually took a few xray's. At the rheumy office they took blood. But never at the pain management office. You'll read in this forum that a lot of people on here have pain contracts they have to sign and be perfect on, which means you can't take more or less of the medication you are given, otherwise the doctor will kick them out. But like me you may not have a doctor that doesn't, my doctor doesn't do the urine testing, pain contracts or pill counting, and I don't think Mellie's does either, but a lot of people on here do have that. I see my pain doc once a month, I was on tramadol for my pain, but then I had a weird reaction so I had to stop and went back on the vicodin today. What I take for my rheumatoid is not narcotics, it's flexeril. I was taking tramadol before I got on the lexapro, and it was working for the rheumy pain, actually pretty good. So, I guess I can tell you a lot about pain doctor and rheumatoid doctors. I hope I haven't scared you, my intention is to give you options, you're so young but in one way it's good to see what your issues are and start getting them taken care of before the pain gets unbareable. Are you having trouble sleeping, are your hands hurting? I noticed that was happening a lot to me and then he put me on the flexeril which is a muscle relaxer that makes you sleep and it worked great.
I hope you have a terrific experience, try not to be afraid of the pain doctor, they are very highly skilled, intelligent, doctors (most of them) sometimes you'll hear about a few bad ones, but I'm so thankful for both my doctors that I hope you end up having a good relationship with them. Please continue to write on the forum, and join us and we'll try to help you anyway we can. I'm glad you came on to ask this question. I'm sorry it's so long, but I thought inform you of what I know about the diseases and it will give you a few ideas. Do you have any other chronic pain than fibromyalgia? How long has the pain been happening? Is this something that just happened or have you been living with it for a long time? Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my post, you are very important to us, we are like a big happy family here. Hope you have a pain free night tonight. Only two more days until your appointment, please be excited about the possibility of finding a treatment that will work for you instead of scared. I promise the doctor will not hurt you.
Take care and please let us know how it turned out!
Karen
Hi and welcome to the forum. You'll find a lot of great information and support here. Just remember this is a patient forum. There are no doctors here but you will find a lot of very smart people. But always remember talking to your doctor about your plan is what you always need to do.
I think there are a lot of people here with fibromyalgia. I have it, though I've only had minor flare-ups in the past few years. I've had it for about ten years. (I have other pain issues that bring me here.)
I'm sure whatever paperwork you need will be given to you at your appointment to fill out. Were you given a referral by your PCP to the pain clinic? If you signed a release, they may have already sent your records.
There's a lot of different treatments for fibromyalgia, including quite a few medications. Hopefully, your pain management team will quickly find what works best for you.
You're so young to be dealing with chronic pain! Hopefully you won't be in pain for too much longer.
I think there are a lot of people here with fibromyalgia. I have it, though I've only had minor flare-ups in the past few years. I've had it for about ten years. (I have other pain issues that bring me here.)
I'm sure whatever paperwork you need will be given to you at your appointment to fill out. Were you given a referral by your PCP to the pain clinic? If you signed a release, they may have already sent your records.
There's a lot of different treatments for fibromyalgia, including quite a few medications. Hopefully, your pain management team will quickly find what works best for you.
You're so young to be dealing with chronic pain! Hopefully you won't be in pain for too much longer.
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